Hey guys! Last time on, "The Legend of Talon Man," me and Qiao battled against this really weird guy, who was apparently the, "Chesnauk Murderer", or something. In addition to that, we also met this strange man who recommended us to the Hajime School of Martial Arts! Now, we just have to convince Guardo to let us attend.
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Once the clock struck twelve, Guardo grabbed his .44 and, after putting on his big, green winter coat, stepped out onto the street, preparing for the worst.
“This is too much for me to handle. If another hour goes by without them being here, I’m going to have a heart attack.”
He, without delay, began to walk across the street and onto the sidewalk, his eyes set on Cornerstone Convenience, but his apprehension caused him to miss the pair of preteens who’d just passed him on the sidewalk opposite of his, heading towards their house.
“Dammit. How are we going to break it to Guardo that the reason we’re late was because we took down the wanted Chesnauk murderer?!”
“Easy: we don’t.”
“It’s going to be on the news, Sannon.”
“Then let him find out that way. He’ll be even-tempered tomorrow, anyway.” Before Qiao could reply, his eyes locked onto the house that was to the right of them, and instantly recognized it as their destination. Prior to entering the two-story house, they braced themselves for their punishment and, thereafter, discreetly crept up to the wooden door and gently cracked it open, but to their relief, no one greeted them. Consequently, they both proceeded to silently sneak up to their room via the stairs and, once there, slowly shut the door and crashed onto their respective beds.
“Thank god he didn’t tackle us when we came in,” Sannon sighed.
“You could say that again.” They were both about to fall asleep when suddenly, a familiar voice from outside reached their ears, hollering: Sannon! Qiao! Where the hell are you two?! Before Sannon could stop him, Qiao, notwithstanding his anxiety, opened his window and shouted down at the man.
“Guardo! We’re over here!” A fighter jet couldn’t have moved faster than Guardo’s head when he heard that voice. Without wasting a second more, he sprinted back to his house as quickly as physically possible.
“Qiao!” Sannon hissed as he put his hands over his face. “Wh-are you stupid or something? Why did you--” However, before Sannon could finish, Guardo came running through their door, with tears flooding from his eyes.
“Welcome home, you two!” he said with a misleading smile on his face, as he held up a slipper.
“Dammit.”
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Unlike the previous day, which was full of clouds that hid the sun, this day was clear, making the beautiful, blue sky visible, with only a few small clouds sprinkled about.
“Guys! Come and get it!” A voice yelled from downstairs. Instantly, the two boys leaped out of bed, their stomachs yearning for the delicious food that Guardo always prepared. They each started to stretch beside their beds, which were parallel to each other, facing the door, with a big window in between, as well as a small window above each of the boys’ beds. They both put on their slippers as to not freeze their feet on the tile wood floor. Sannon started to open the door, but Qiao stopped him.
“Wait, Sannon,” Sannon shot Qiao a weird face as he noticed him slipping the Brahma knife into his pocket.
“We have to.” Only after that did they both rush down for their morning meal. They ran through the narrow hallway to the stairs, which were located at the end of it, and flew down to the first floor. They nearly fell trying to get to their plates, but when they finally arrived, Sannon decided it would be funny to snatch a piece of Qiao's bacon.
"Woah, woah, Sannon. Don't forget what I have in here." Qiao cracked a smile, knowing that, because of his possession, he would be able to persuade that bacon back onto his plate. He glanced at his right pocket, but when his eyes returned to Sannon, utter helplessness rushed through him. His eyes widened. His mouth, excessively dry in an instant. He felt as if he was drowning inside the ocean of sweat pouring from his pores. It-it couldn't be! The bacon had been neutralized, along with Qiao's heart, which was instantly shattered like glass on concrete.
"Why are you being so dramatic, you dimwit?" Sannon, still chewing on the bacon, pointed over to the stove-top, where countless pieces of delicious bacon lay atop it. "There's plenty over there."
“Oh, yeah. Guardo, we have some exciting news.” Qiao said as he nonchalantly started to crunch the crisp, greasy bacon strips. "Take a look at this." Qiao pulled out the Brahma knife.
“What the... Wait! Is that what I think it is?!” Guardo’s happy expression at once shifted into pure terror. “That's the damned weapon of the Chesnauk murderer!”
“Look, I know you’re mad, but aren’t you happy we were able to defend ourselves?” Qiao glanced at Sannon.
“Y-yeah, we actually did take him down, Guardo! And, we also met this other guy who gave us this card that--”
“Enough! What the hell is the matter with you two?! You guys could've died!”
“But we survived, didn’t we? Aren’t you proud of us?” Sannon gave the card he received the previous night to Guardo.
“That guy that I mentioned before recommended us to this martial arts school in downtown Seattle. We’ll have to take the bus, but we’re fine with that.” Sannon said.
“The only thing holding us back is your approval.” Qiao added. Guardo sighed as he pulled the card away from his eyes.
“Well, of course I want you two to attend! I’ll even get a loan from the bank to pay for the classes. I just want you two to be careful, that’s all.” Relief immediately spread throughout both of their bodies, and as soon as they finished eating, they alerted Guardo that they were heading out to visit the school, but he stopped them. “No way am I letting you two go out alone after what happened last night! You can go check out the school today, but until you two get the basics of your desired martial art down like second nature, I will escort you to and from your classes. Understood?” The two boys shook their heads in approval, and then started to prepare for the trip.
Even though the sun revealed her face today, Sannon and Qiao both threw on their navy-blue winter coats and brown work boots. By the time they reached downstairs again, Guardo was already prepared to leave.
He locked up the house, and after checking the windows and doors thoroughly a couple more times, they headed off to downtown Seattle.
“Guardo! Why do we have to walk?! Why can’t we take the car?” Sannon said, scrunching his face.
“The bus-stop is pretty close, so why would I want to waste gas when we are within walking distance? Besides, you guys should get used to this." The bus-stop gradually started to come into view as they continued down the street. "If this school is as good as you're making it out to be, they're going to have you do way more exhausting things." As they made their way onto the bus, Qiao remembered something that he was planning on discussing with Sannon.
“Hey, Sannon. Remember that guy from yesterday?” he asked as Sannon nodded his head. “Well, I just remembered that the last thing he said yesterday was that he would be waiting for us in downtown Seattle.”
“Well, he said that, but how in the world are we going to find him? Seattle is huge!” Sannon replied.
“Yeah. My thoughts exactly.”
“You may not know exactly where he is," Guardo added. “But a start would be to head to the address listed on the card, right?”
“That'd be ideal, I guess. Let’s just hope he’s there, though.” Qiao said. When they got off the bus, Guardo pulled out his phone and put the address into the built-in GPS.
“Woah. It’s actually not too far from the Christmas Tree, guys! I’d say it's, more or less, around 20 minutes from here.” Guardo said. They walked through the city, admiring the beautiful Christmas lights and decorations spewed all across the buildings, as well as the immense Christmas Tree that stood in the center of the city, but Qiao remained silent the whole time, his head down.
“Isn’t it amazing, Qiao?!” Sannon exclaimed. Qiao shrugged his shoulders. As they continued to walk through, Sannon couldn’t keep his eyes off the red and green flashing lights on the Christmas Tree, which almost made him walk into some plump man eating a cheeseburger. Only by Guardo’s swift yank did Sannon manage to dodge the guy. Qiao put his sweaty hands into his pockets.
"You don't know him. You do not know him." Qiao apprehensively thought.
“Watch where you’re going next time, Sannon!” Guardo whispered, just as the trio arrived at their apparent destination. “Hey guys, we’re here.” Guardo said. “Apparently.” However, what they were in front of was simply an ordinary coffee shop. Built mostly out of bricks, this coffee shop was somewhat secluded from the rest of the city, though there was still an abundance of customers, especially in the morning. Scattered around the entrance were tables and chairs with umbrellas, so that people could sit outside and drink their coffee, and one of the chairs farthest from the entrance was occupied by a familiar man dressed in an elegant suit with a Santa hat on. Sannon was the first to spot him, but only after the man slowly raised his head up and made eye contact did Sannon recognize him.
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“Hey, it’s him! The guy from yesterday!” Immediately, Qiao and Guardo glanced in the direction that Sannon was pointing in, just as the man arose and started to walk over to Guardo, his hand outstretched.
"Don't point, Sannon." Guardo said as he quickly forced the boy's hand down.
“Top of the morning! You must be these kids’ guardian. I hope that you will trust me enough to take them to Hajime from here.” he said as they shook hands.
“Well, first, I’d like to know where this ‘Hajime’ is, Mister…”
“Why, it’s right,” The man pointed behind him, into the store. “In there.”
“Now, what the hell are you on, buddy?! That’s a coffee shop.” Guardo responded.
“Watch closely. Come, all three of you,” the man said as he turned to walk into the shop, the other three awkwardly following behind him. “Hey Barry! Can I get an espresso?” the man asked as he walked in. Barry, who was a plump man working the cash register, looked over at him with a very serious face.
“How many shots?”
“Eight.”
“Eight damn shots? This guy’s a nutjob!”
“Right this way, sir. We have the extra espresso in the back.” The four followed Barry into the backroom, but instead of being greeted with extra espresso boxes, they instead were led into an elevator. “Hajime?” Barry asked. As soon as the man nodded back in agreement, Barry shut the door and pushed a button, causing them to immediately start to descend.
“Why eight shots, Mister?” Sannon asked.
“It may sound weird, but the Japanese word for eight is ‘Hachi’, which starts with the same letters as ‘Hajime’.”
“Woah, really?!” Barry exclaimed. “I didn’t even know that, and I’ve been working here for 2 years!”
“Oh, yeah. You two, I had neglected to ask you this during our last encount--” Just then, the man’s phone began to ring, but after quickly glancing at the number, he put it on silent. It seemed as though, after that call, he checked his phone much more frequently, getting a glimpse in every 5 minutes. He tried to resume, but Sannon stopped him.
“Hold up, buddy. I have a question that I neglected to ask you at our last encounter: How in the hell did you figure out that I was from Former Korea?!” Sannon exclaimed.
“Well, you see, it’s actually quite simple: The people from Former Korea and China are prejudiced the most here in America, and given that your name is ‘Sannon’, I assumed you were Japanese, therefore residing in Former Korea. You wouldn’t have mentioned racism if that weren’t true, Sannon. Now, for my quest--" However, before the man could finish, he was, once again, interrupted, this time by the opening of the elevator doors. Once the doors fully opened, a lobby was revealed.
Straight ahead, on the furthest wall facing them, were the Hàn for “Martial Arts”. On the right, an average sized, young Chinese woman, with her jet-black hair tied in a bun, greeted them from behind her counter.
“Behold!” the man said, lifting his hands into the air. “Hajime School of Martial Arts!”
“Good morning, Mr.Falony. Are you doing well today?” the woman behind the counter asked.
“Aren’t I always, Gabriella? But today, even more so!” He pointed to Sannon and Qiao. “We have two new students today!” A smile came over Gabriella’s face as she waved the two boys over. As boys started to walk over, Sannon’s chest began to pound forcefully, so much so that it could be seen through his shirt, and his pupils started to dilate.
“W-what is this feeling? I have a strong urge to look at and be close to that woman!”
Sannon remained quiet until his friend joined him at the front of the counter, which reached Qiao’s chest, but only the bottom of Sannon’s neck.
"Falony," Barry said. "What was it that you were going to ask them about?"
"I want to know how they will go about achieving such an odd ambition." Mr. Falony glanced at his phone. "I will certainly find it interesting when they learn how nonsensical the whole thing is."
"I literally have no idea what you're talking about. No matter the ambition, how would they even come to that conclusion?"
"Oh, don’t worry; you will know soon enough."
“Hi! My name is Qiao.” Sannon, whose tongue was caught by Carbonel, kept his head down. As to not make things awkward, Qiao introduced his friend as well.
“Oh, well, it’s very nice to meet you, Qiao and Sannon!” Gabriella said, which caused Sannon to start blushing.
“N-no! I can’t let her see me like this!”
Immediately, Sannon quickly walked over to Mr. Falony and asked him where the bathroom was.
“Heavens, your face is as red as a tomato, Sannon! Here, right this way.” Mr. Falony led Sannon down the hallway in front of the main desk. While Sannon was busy doing his business, Qiao submitted his and Sannon’s information so that Gabriella could put them in the system. “Sannon? What in the world has gotten into you?” Mr. Falony asked as he opened the bathroom door for him.
“I-I think I have to pee. I have been holding it ever since we left, and I guess it just hit me now,” Sannon fibbed as he entered the bathroom, but not after sneaking one last glance at Gabriella.
“Alright, now just one more thing.” Gabriella said as she pulled out a little device with a circle in the middle that caved into the machine. “We need your fingerprints, as to make it easier to identify you guys when you come to class,” she explained as she grabbed Qiao’s hand and held his right index finger in the circle.
After a few seconds, she lifted his finger up and reassured him that the procedure had been completed. “Now, I just need your friend’s, and then it looks like we'll be good to go! Would you please go get him for me?” Qiao nodded in agreement as he turned to head down the hallway in order to retrieve his friend, but he instantly spotted Sannon at the end of the hallway, staring at Gabriella.
“That hair. Those eyes. Her chest. Those lips. She’s so perf--”
“Sannon! C’mon man, Gabriella’s waiting for you.” Qiao said, a huge smirk forming.
“Sh-she’s waiting for me to come over by her?!”
Immediately, Sannon made his way over to the sweet Asian lady, ready to be greeted by her captivating voice.
“S-sorry I kept you waiting, Miss,” he shyly said.
“Don’t worry about it! And you can just call me Gabriella, or Gabby for short. Now, I just need your hand for a second,” she said as she reached for Sannon’s hand.
“S-she called me over here so she could touch my hand?! That’s it, now I know she’s crazy for me!”
As she started to place his right index finger onto the fingerprint scanner, his face quickly turned bright red again.
“Okay, you’re done, Sannon,” she said as she looked over at her computer screen. “Alright guys, now for the most important question.”
“Will you marry me?”
“What Martial Art are you interested in taking classes in?” Gabriella asked just as Mr. Falony’s phone, once again, began to ring crazily, which caused Sannon to jump. Mr. Falony glanced at his phone before swiftly entering the bathroom himself, locking the door behind him.
“Well, what kinds of Martial Art styles do you have available? Maybe you could show us around.” Qiao said as he winked at Sannon, causing Gabriella to stand up and walk around the desk, coming into full view. She was dressed in a black blouse with a white tank top under it, and her legs were covered with black office pants. With a smile on her face, she pointed down the hallway and said, “Right this way, boys.”
As she started to walk down the hallway, her heels slapping against the floor each time her foot made contact with the ground, Sannon, who was right behind her, began to shake, his heart pounding more than ever. At the end of the hallway, on the right wall was the bathroom door, and on the left, various pictures of famous Martial Artists were hung up, each with a name written in Hàn below them.
As Gabriella pushed open the door in front of her, a huge gymnasium was revealed, as well as various other students practicing their desired Martial Art. The whitewashed brick walls and the mats on the lower half of said walls and on the floor provided an ideal environment for Martial Art training. From the looks of it, it seemed as though everyone worked in the same gym, but were separated based on their Martial Art.
“Hey, Gabby!” Suddenly, out of seemingly nowhere, a muscular man with long hair appeared. “Who’re these squirts?” he questioned.
“They’re our new fighters who will be joining us in a few days. For today, however, I’m just showing them around so they can discover what they want to study here at Hajime.”
“Ah, I see,” he said as he inspected the two boys. “Intriguing. Do you need any help with that?”
“Sure. I need to get back to my desk anyway, so if you could just run them through each of the classes, that’d be wonderful!”
“You got it.” the man said as Gabby waved at the boys and disappeared through the door. However, as soon as she closed the door behind her, his demeanor changed instantaneously. “Alright, scum! Follow me!” he roared. With his chest puffed out, he began to run through the basic procedures and classes of Hajime. “Class starts at 4:00am every morning, but students are required to come here 30 minutes early to take their daily morning assessments!"
“A test every day?!” the boys thought.
“We model our school system after the great Shugan academy, therefore, students are required to run home at a consistent pace of 5mph after class.” The man continued to blabber on and on about the school, but something in the distance caught Qiao's attention.
“Hey, Mister,” he said. The man quickly swung his head around to meet Qiao’s stare.
“That's Iwanari-sensei to you, scum! And what is it?!” he roared back as Qiao pointed to the group he was interested in.
“What are they practicing?” he asked. Immediately, the man changed course and made his way towards the group.
“These scums are practicing the art of Wing Chun!" As expected, Iwanari began to explain the fundamentals and basic mechanics of Wing Chun
However, while this was happening, Sannon studied two specific groups of students, his intrigue growing by the second.
It took a while, but once Qiao got his fill of information on Wing Chun, the boys made their way back to Gabriella.
“Oh, did you choose already?” Once Sannon arrived at the desk, Qiao explained that he was interested in taking Wing Chun lessons. However, Sannon remained silent. His mind was a tornado. He knew what he wanted, but his cowardice was winning the fight.
"What about you, Sannon?" Gabriella asked.
"W-well..." Sannon looked down at the ground. "I... I'd like to take two, if that isn’t too much trouble for you."
"Although rare, we do allow that, but it'll be exceptionally harder, for obvious reasons. What two were you interested in?" Gabriella turned towards her computer, fingers on her keyboard, awaiting a response.
"Kung Fu and Jujitsu. I... I want to be prepared for any situation, and I think these two will fit my needs well." Without hesitation, Gabriella began rapidly pushing keys, and, after a moment, assured Sannon that he was all set.
“Hey,” a voice said from the door leading to the gymnasium, which was recognized as Mr. Iwanari as soon as he was seen by the boys. “How about I take you guys out for pizza later on tonight? My treat,” he said with a tender smile as Qiao and Sannon cheered in excitement.
"I hope she doesn’t think I'm weird for choosing two." Sannon thought.